Simmons Firm Featured on Fox News St. Louis

Fox 2 News of St. Louis paid our future home in Alton a visit this afternoon. As seen on the 6 o'clock news, the news crew captured Principal Melinda Fischer of Saint Peter and Paul Catholic School and her team hauling away furniture the Simmons firm has donated to the school.  The building, which was purchased earlier this month, was left with office furniture that the firm is donating to local organizations. 

We're encouraged to see the enthusiasm of local businesses and are looking forward to being good neighbors. 

Watch the news story below or view it on the Fox 2 Web site.

Simmons Firm Starts New Decade of Client Service with a New Name and New Home

Yesterday, to mark the 10-year anniversary of our firm, I was pleased to make two significant announcements to our employees. First, the employees learned of the company name change from SimmonsCooper LLC to Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC - or the Simmons firm, for short. Second, I was able to share the good news to employees that we are relocating our headquarters from East Alton, Ill., to Alton, Ill.

Simmons Browder Gianaris Angelides & Barnerd LLC, which will be referred to as the "Simmons firm" by clients and employees, will continue the firm’s legacy as a leading national law firm in the fight against mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

The new name is an important step as we prepare for our second decade of meeting clients’ needs. The new name acknowledges the firm’s leadership.  Perry Browder, Ted Gianaris, Michael Angelides, and John Barnerd are four of the fourteen partners at the firm. We feel it is important for our firm to formally identify and acknowledge those who our clients, attorneys, and employees rely upon to lead the firm at the highest level.

Bringing all of our employees together under one roof has long been a goal. The relocation of our headquarters from East Alton, Ill., to Alton, Ill., will allow us to consolidate all employees into one building at 401 Alton Street, formerly occupied by Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. Currently, the Simmons firm’s employees occupy six buildings in different locations throughout the East Alton area. This move, we believe, will make us even more effective and efficient for our clients.

We purchased the Alton building last week. We will rehab the building before employees move into it by the end of 2010. The building will be a great fit for our needs, and we're looking forward to coming to Alton.

Our 10-year anniversary has also been a time to reaffirm our ongoing commitment to help lead the long-term fight for victims of mesothelioma – a rare cancer caused by exposure to asbestos – and other asbestos-related diseases inside and outside the courtroom.  Such cases were the firm’s focus when we opened the doors in 1999.

Our pledge is to provide representation to victims suffering from what were and are preventable, life-ending illnesses. We will also continue to stand as a leading national advocate in raising public awareness and funds for research to find better care, and, ultimately, a cure, for mesothelioma. We will continue to fight for the rights of victims of asbestos-related diseases and their families, as well as generate awareness, increase education, and help raise funds for research to find better care and, hopefully, a cure for mesothelioma.

Looking Back on 10 Years of Client Service

July 20th marks the 10 year anniversary of the day we first opened our doors.

It’s been said that the achievements of an organization are the direct results of the combined efforts of each contributing individual. As our firm nears its 10th anniversary, I want to acknowledge our incredible family of attorneys and employees. Together, they have provided and continue to provide tremendous value to our clients, and to each other.

When this firm started with just eight of us, we made a promise to give each client and their family the attention, care, and respect they deserved. It was a promise that we believed would not only make a meaningful difference but also set us apart. It’s a promise we still live today, and one that has, in large part, led us to do good work for thousands of families affected by mesothelioma and asbestos across the U.S.
 
The goal was never to be the biggest. We’re honored to have come this far. It’s a testament to charter employees like Karen Bonnell, Ann Jackson, and Roger Lewis; to all of our partners; and to each skilled attorney and employee making a difference.

I thank them for their hard work, dedication, dogged determination, faith, and endurance. Their efforts have paid the price for the success of our firm.

We will take time to reflect on the last 10 years. But we will also take this opportunity to reaffirm our long-term commitment to victims’ rights and our promise to generate awareness about mesothelioma and the need to raise funds for better care and, ultimately, a cure, and to advocate the ban of asbestos in the United States.

More than anything, I want to express my gratitude for the trust of thousands of clients and their families across the country. From the courtroom to the living room to the hospital room, they allowed us into their lives. That is the ultimate compliment. They are, and will always remain, part of our family.

$22,641 Raised on Facebook for Mesothelioma Research in 32 Days!

I'm amazed.  In just 32 days, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation's cause on Facebook reached over 18,000 people and raised $22,641 for mesothelioma research. All in the name of a four year-old little girl named Zaida from Colorado. I'm so pleased that our firm could be a sponsor and play a role in building awareness. Thank you to everyone who joined and participated! 

Thousands Rally on Facebook for Four Year-Old Girl With Mesothelioma

Three weeks ago our firm became involved in a campaign on Facebook to help fund cancer research on behalf of a 4 year-old little girl named Zaida and thousands of other mesothelioma patients across the country. I'm pleased to announce that in that short time the campaign has inspired over 9,000 people to join the cause to fight mesothelioma and has raised over over $13,000!

All money goes to the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation to fund cancer research. It's free to join and when you do the Simmons firm will donate $1 to the foundation. Plus, if you donate on your own, the Simmons firm will then match your donation. It's simple and a great way to generate awareness and raise needed funds for research. Here's what it looks like on Facebook:

Why Facebook? As a social networking tool, Facebook has over 100 million people that log on every day, and the average user has 120 friends. Facebook has quickly become a means of creating interest and dialogue about issues that directly affect the well-being of our country, including the election of President Obama. You can join Facebook here.

Giving back to the people we serve and represent has always been a priority to our firm, and if you've ever sat in the living room of a family that just found out a loved one has mesothelioma, you know why. I'm pleased to announce that even before the Zaida Facebook campaign was officially up and running, the 200-plus employees at the Simmons firm opened their hearts and wallets and collectively raised over $22,000.

Obvisously, when we heard about Zaida, we knew we had to get involved. If you haven't read Zaida's story, I'd encourage you to click here and learn more. She may not be the typical face of this cancer, but she's a face that can inspire more involvement, more engagement, and more resources – which can lead to better treatment options and, someday, a cure. She certainly inspired us –  as have the thousands of steelworkers, carpenters, and military veterans that we've seen struggle against this disease.

I hope you're inspired too, because there's much more work that can be done.  Let's see if we can raise another $10,000 on Facebook - and when we're successful, let's do it again! Let's give this long overdue conversation the broader public attention is deserves. 

Ban of Asbestos Overdue: Future Deaths Are Preventable

The first week of April marked National Asbestos Awareness Week. This designation recognized the national tragedy created by the past and current dissemination and use of products in the United States containing asbestos, a known carcinogen with no known level of safe exposure.

It also served as a reminder just how unthinkable it is that the U.S. continues to import 2,000 metric tons of a product that kills approximately 10,000 Americans each year.

As colleagues and clients, as family and friends, we came together during National Asbestos Awareness Week to comfort and console, but also to fight and to win. We took time to reflect upon the personal battles fought by those suffering from asbestos-related diseases, and we remembered those we know who have lost their lives because of exposure to the deadly substance. We also reaffirmed our efforts to find a cure for diseases such as mesothelioma by funding research, and we furthered our call to action to ban asbestos in the U.S.

As the Simmons firm partner Michael Angelides wrote in an op-ed published this morning (view here: U.S. Ban of Asbestos Long Overdue), “Still, just as the country spends billions on asbestos cleanup, our nation continues to import and consume almost 2,000 metric tons of asbestos for use in everyday products. It’s an obvious and deadly contradiction. We need to encourage our nation’s leaders and lawmakers to stop U.S. import and use of a known cancer-causing product . . . Past deaths were preventable.  Importantly, future deaths are preventable. There’s more to do than clean up the mess. The poisoning must be stopped.”

We ask that you join us in the fight to ban asbestos. Please visit www.banasbestos.us and write your lawmakers. You can also learn more at the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization's web site (www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org) or make a donation to support the Meso Foundation's important research at www.curemeso.org. As we reflected and looked ahead during National Asbestos Awareness Week, it’s important to remember that together we can make a difference.